Saturday, August 1, 2015

AMBASSADORS OF PRAYER by Carter Conlon

When we come to God in prayer, we must know who He is and what He is
willing to do for us. We must know that He is our Father, our provider,
our deliverer; that we are forgiven so that we can become ambassadors
of forgiveness. We must have an assurance in our hearts that God is
faithful to protect us from every weapon of evil that is formed against
us.“And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall
go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing
to set before him?” (Luke 11:5-6).Once we are completely at rest in who God is, fully trusting in His
provision and keeping power, there is a shift that ought to take place
in our prayers. Prayer should no longer be all about us but should also
be focused on others. This is where the true power of prayer is found.Please notice that verse five tells us that it was midnight. I am
sure by now you are aware that we are living in the midnight hour.
Everything as we know it is moving into a last and final rebellion
against all the ways of a holy God. It was at midnight, as well, that
Paul and Silas found themselves in an inner prison, yet they chose to
pray and worship (see Acts 16:25).
Suddenly, there was an earthquake that shook the prison’s foundations.
All the prison doors were opened, and everyone’s bands were loosed. If
only you and I can learn to pray like that in this dark hour!We can be sure that Paul and Silas were not simply praying, “Forgive
us for our sins and give us our daily bread.” No! I believe they were
crying out, “God, it’s midnight, and there is a need here that is much
greater than we can handle. Friends have been set before us, and these
friends are in prison—shackled and hopeless. You have entrusted us with
this inner prison, so now You must give us the strength to make a
difference.”How did God respond to their prayer? He put a song inside of them! As
they began to worship God for answering the cry of their hearts,
suddenly everything began to shake and miracles started to happen. Even
the Philippian jailer and his entire household surrendered their lives
to Jesus!

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Carter Conlon joined the pastoral
staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of the founding
pastor, David Wilkerson, and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. A
strong, compassionate leader, he is a frequent speaker at the Expect
Church Leadership Conferences conducted by World Challenge throughout
the world.